(credit: Aurich Lawson) Once again, Microsoft has opted to patch the out-of-support Windows XP. Dan has written about the new patch, the circumstances around the flaws it addresses, and why Microsoft has chosen to protect Windows XP users. While Microsoft’s position is a tricky one, we argue in this post first published in 2014 that patching is the wrong decision: it sends a clear message to recalcitrant corporations that they...

(credit: Microsoft) On Tuesday, Microsoft took the highly unusual step of issuing security patches for XP and other unsupported versions of Windows. The company did this in a bid to protect the OSes against a series of “destructive” exploits developed by, and later stolen from, the National Security Agency. By Ars’ count, Tuesday is only the third time in Microsoft history that the company has issued free security...

Enlarge / President Barack Obama reportedly called Russian President Vladimir Putin in October 2016 on the “cyber hotline” to warn about the ongoing hacking of US election officials’ systems. (credit: Presidential Press and Information Office) Citing sources “with direct knowledge of the US investigation” into Russia’s information operations campaign during the 2016 US presidential election...

Enlarge / FORT IRWIN, California – Spc. Nathaniel Ortiz, Expeditionary CEMA (Cyber Electromagnetic Activities) Team (ECT), 781st Military Intelligence Battalion, “conducts cyberspace operations” at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, May 9, 2017. (credit: Bill Roche, U.S. Army Cyber Command) The US military and intelligence communities have spent much of the last two decades fighting wars in which...

Over the past several years, there has been a major effort by entertainment industry groups to cut off revenue streams to ‘pirate’ sites. The theory is that if sites cannot generate funds, their operators will eventually lose interest. Since advertising is a key money earner for any website, significant resources have been expended trying to keep ads off sites that directly or indirectly profit from infringement....